Facilities

The Interchurch Center

The Seminary’s administrative offices are located in The Interchurch Center, a 20-story building located on the Upper West Side of New York City that is the home to a number of ecumenical and interreligious agencies and organizations. The Interchurch Center is owned and managed under the auspices of several Christian organizations as a Class A office facility, with the mission to provide a working environment that is conducive to ecumenism and interreligious involvement.

The Riverside Church

Most of the classes in the NYTS degree programs are held in The Riverside Church which is located across the street from The Interchurch Center on Riverside Drive. The Riverside Church is an interdenominational, interracial, & international congregation affiliated with the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ, and cooperating with the Council of Churches in the City of New York as well as the New York State, National, and World Councils of Churches.

Campus Security

New York Theological Seminary (NYTS) does not own property. The Seminary’s administrative offices are located in The Interchurch Center, a class-A office building. Classes for its degree programs are held mostly in The Riverside Church, located at 490 Riverside Drive in Manhattan. The Seminary rents access to the libraries of Columbia University, which includes the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, for its research needs. Each of these institutions – The Interchurch Center, Riverside Church, Columbia University, and Union Theological Seminary, maintains its own security personnel and employs strict security procedures that NYTS students must follow.

All visitors entering The Interchurch Center are required to register at the front desk, and must be approved before going to one of the offices. Anyone entering Suite 500 who is not a member of the Seminary’s staff or faculty is required to register at the front desk of the Seminary as well. Records from both the front desk of The Interchurch Center and the front desk of Suite 500 are maintained permanently and are available to any authorized member of the Seminary for review. Any NYTS student who shows a current Seminary identification card at the front desk of The Interchurch Center is issued a building pass prior to 4:30 pm on week days when the building is officially open. After 4:30 each day and on weekends and holidays no student may proceed to the 5th floor without being escorted.

Riverside Church and Union Theological Seminary both require a valid NYTS identification card for students to proceed past the front desk. Students do not have to register to enter Riverside Church or Union to reach Burke Library. Union Theological Seminary requires a Columbia University ID in order to access Burke library.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, otherwise known as the Clery Act, requires schools that participate in federal financial aid programs to maintain and disclose information about crime on or near their campus. NYTS interprets this to be the Morningside Heights neighborhood, and specifically the neighborhood around the institutions listed above. Information regarding crime in the Morningside Heights neighborhood, including the streets around The Interchurch Center and Riverside Church, are maintained by Columbia University in fulfillment of the obligations of the Clery Act. The most recent report for our neighborhood can be found through a link on the NYTS web page at www.nyts.edu. The Columbia web page can also be accessed at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/publicsafety/.

Under the Cleary Act schools are required to issue warnings regarding potential problems with crime when necessary. Institutions are also required to notify the community where information regarding registered sex offenders has been provided to it by authorized representatives of a law enforcement agency. Columbia University informs security office of The Interchurch Center whenever any potential problems in the neighborhood arise. The Interchurch Center in turn passes along such warnings to tenants in the building, including NYTS. NYTS passes along any such notices to students either through Moodle, or in the case of a situation that might immediately affect evening classes, directly to students through their professors in the classroom; and to faculty and staff through the NYTS office email system. NYTS will also forwards any notices it receives from the security desk at The Riverside Church.

Members of the NYTS community, including all faculty, students, staff, and visitors, who have either been the victims or observers of a crime taking place in any building or around the immediate neighborhood of Morningside Heights are asked to report such incidents immediately to the head of security on duty in the building where they are, or to the New York City police.

Emergencies

In case of fire or medical emergency a person should call 911 and stay on the phone to provide the necessary information to the police department, fire department, or emergency medical services.

Security in The Interchurch Center (TIC)

Anyone detecting theft, malicious damage to or disappearance of property, the harming or threat of harming individuals, or the presence in the building of unauthorized persons, is requested to immediately call the TIC Security Officer on duty on ext 3111 (ext. 3002 after normal building hours). A TIC Security Officer will come to the NYTS Suite to deal with the situation. If there is an immediate threat of harm, the person should call 911 to reach the New York City Police Department. In the case of an unauthorized person on the floor, if possible the person who made the initial call to TIC security is to maintain visual contact with the unauthorized person until TIC Security arrives, and is asked to make a written report within 24 hours of the incident to the Senior Property Manager.

Security in Riverside Church

Anyone detecting suspicious activities such as damaging church property, theft, or unauthorized individuals on the premises of The Riverside Church should contact the Security team at The Riverside Church immediately at 212-870-6712. A security officer will respond to address the concern. If there is a possible threat or harm to an individual the person should first call 911 to get in contact with the New York Police Department and Local Precinct 26 will be dispatched to the scene. The person who made the call should also contact Riverside Security and should stay onsite until NYPD officers arrive so a report can be made. Riverside Security is always on site 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. To discuss an incident with our Director of Security, please call 212-870-6804.

Security in Burke Library and other Columbia University facilities

For any security concerns while in Burke Library or any other library of Columbia University, a person should call Columbia University Department of Public Safety on campus at x4-5555 or by cell phone at 212-854-5555.